Sunday, April 10, 2022

Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve


Hilian texted me to let Karen and I  know that we would be picked up at 6 am. The weather was slowly settling and that was good. Today was our second last day of fly fishing!

As the sun rose over Ambergris Caye, we headed north almost 30 miles to Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve. This was a new area for Karen and I. The run in Hilian's boat took almost an hour. We stopped to pay our fee for being in the park. Nobody was up so we paid our fees later in the morning. Bacalar Chico Marine Park is a protected area. You can hike, snorkel, and swim in this spectacular area right next door to Mexico. This protected area is a spawning area for many species of fish and is home to the elusive jaguars.

We first stopped to try and connect with a tarpon. I did have some shots but no hook ups. The wind was blowing extremely hard but we did find some protected areas to search for the silver king. After a while we motored up an area that was quite narrow. We went through several tight mangrove areas where we had to duck down, raise the motor and use our arms to push the boats around some tight spots. We came out in an area that had a bay we wanted to explore. Unfortunately, the tides and winds made the area extremely shallow. We had to push the panga through a few areas. Finally we entered an area that had some bonefish and permit. Both pods were so skiddish. There was a good reason too! Giant baracuddas were in the bay looking to feed. The bonefish and permit were running.

We headed back to the edge of the park where we found larger pods of bonefish. Karen had a great time connecting with these hard fighting grey ghosts. We got a call from Omar. He found a pod of permit! We motored over, had lunch and then went looking. No dice.

We ended the fantastic day looking for bonefish. Karen and I both got our fill before we motored back to our condo. The weather was settling and the wind was swinging around to the east. That meant the stable air was moving in.















 

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